Department for Transport

Bus Service Operators Grant

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28183, using what evidence base his departmental economists (a) normally assume operators pass subsidy received on to passengers at a rate of 50 per cent through lower fares and at a rate of 50 per cent through increased service levels and (b) estimate that the Bus Service Operators' Grant has the effect of keeping fares 3 per cent lower in England outside London.

Andrew Jones: The department assumed that the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) was passed on to passengers 50% through lower fares and 50% through increased service levels as a working assumption made in the absence of better relevant evidence. The estimate of the effect of keeping fares lower as a result of BSOG was derived by using the National Bus Model, which combined assumptions based on the evidence available with actual data on passenger numbers, fares and service levels.

Bus Service Operators Grant

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2016 to Question 28284, how much the Business Rate Retention Scheme has raised for the Greater London Authority in each year since the scheme's introduction.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The income available to the Greater London Authority through the Business Rates Retention Scheme was £863.2 million in 2013/2014 and £936.2 million in 2014/2015. The income is forecast to be £1.0396 billion in 2015/2016.

Aviation: Alcoholic Drinks

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from airlines on alcohol misuse on commercial flights.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues to airlines on passenger alcohol consumption.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce aggressive behaviour among passengers on commercial flights to, from and within the UK.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to reduce dangerous drunkenness of passengers on commercial flights.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I and my officials have met and corresponded with industry representatives to discuss the issue of disruptive passengers on a number of occasions over the last year. In particular we have been working closely with airlines, airports, the police and duty free retailers to understand the challenges posed by disruptive behaviour on aircraft and to explore practical steps that can be taken to both reduce the frequency of these instances and to ensure that they are dealt with appropriately when they do occur. We are very supportive of industry’s efforts, including to collating and disseminating best practice and guidance; we will continue to provide assistance where appropriate.

Department for Transport: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of his Department's (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

Mr Robert Goodwill: 89% of Senior Civil Servants in the Department for Transport are based in London. Information on the profession of civil servants is not stored on the central system and therefore we are unable to confirm which civil servants who define themselves as a Policy professional are based in London.

Transport: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on devolving local transport schemes to local enterprise partnerships (LEP); and if he will assess the effect of such policies on the work of the Solent LEP in developing Southampton's infrastructure.

Andrew Jones: Funding for major local transport schemes is devolved as part of the Local Growth Fund to which the Department is contributing over £7billion. It is for LEPs to determine the priority projects in their areas. I understand that schemes that Solent LEP is undertaking in Southampton include the Cross Solent Connectivity Project, junction improvements near the Western Docks, and the recently completed Station Quarter scheme.

Taxis: Wheelchairs

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23178, if he will announce a date for the introduction of section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

Andrew Jones: The Government is continuing to actively consider how best to address problems wheelchair users face when using taxis and private hire vehicles, including the possible commencement of Section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

Official Cars: Cleaning Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was of non-routine upholstery cleaning for the Government Car Service fleet in each month since May 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: No cost has been incurred by the Government Car Service fleet in each month since May 2015 for non-routine upholstery cleaning.

Official Cars: Fuels

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of fuel was for the Government Car Service fleet in each month since May 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The table shows the cost of fuel for the Government Car Service fleet in each month since May 2015 MonthExc. VATInc. VATMay£10,429.57£12,515.48June£9,946.79£11,936.15July£12,540.02£15,048.02August£7,126.37£8,551.64September£8,861.36£10,633.63October£11,239.51£13,487.41November£10,417.58£12,501.10December£9,101.75£10,922.10January£9,682.24£11,618.69February£9,278.99£11,134.79

Aviation: Drunkenness

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department collects on drunkenness of passengers on commercial flights.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of aggressive behaviour of passengers have been recorded on commercial flights travelling (a) to, (b) from and (c) within the UK in each of the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government does not collect specific data on the frequency of incidents involving drunk or aggressive passengers. If serious enough such incidents would be counted amongst data for safety related events. In accordance with (EU) Regulation No 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority as part of the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Scheme (MORS). The Regulation requires that the reporting, analysis and follow-up to such occurrences remain confidential. However, the Regulation does permit information to be released on request to interested parties that have a genuine safety related need for the information. An application can be made at www.caa.co.uk.

Ministers: Official Cars

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many journeys have been made by each government minister using the Government Car Service since May 2015; and how many such journeys have been made for the transportation of a red box.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government Car Service provides a Departmental Pool Car service to its customers. Departments manage the use of the vehicle by their Ministers and individual trips are not recorded. In addition, GCS offers a small pre booked service. The IT system used for this service is in the process of renewal and so the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

M20: Large Goods Vehicles

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what preparations his Department has made for implementing Operation Stack in Kent this summer.

Andrew Jones: Operation Stack is implemented by Kent Police with support by Highways England as an emergency measure, when cross channel disruption occurs. The Government has listened to the communities and businesses of Kent and taken action to deal with the causes and effects of Operation Stack. In the Autumn Statement 2015, the Chancellor announced up to £250m for an off-road lorry area. In addition, as an interim measure, the Government secured the use of a site at Manston in North Kent last summer. The Department for Transport and Highways England continue to work with Kent partners, including the county and district councils, emergency services, hauliers and ports to reduce the impact of Operation Stack on Kent should it need to be implemented.

Roads: Litter

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) prevent littering and (b) collect waste on the Strategic Road Network.

Andrew Jones: Highways England, as a Government Owned Company, is responsible for complying with the mandatory legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which includes removing litter on England’s strategic road network. Collecting litter puts road workers at risk and is a costly operation, so Highways England works collaboratively with a number of organisations to promote anti-litter campaigns designed to prevent littering occurring.

Cycling: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding the Government has allocated to cycling schemes in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In the five financial years from 2010/11 to 2014/15, the Department for Transport has provided: £63m to Cycling England, £94m to the Cycle Ambition Cities and National Parks fund, £30m to the Linking Communities/Cycle Rail fund, £12m to Links to Schools, £44m to Bikeability cycle training and £35m to the Cycle Safety fund. Between 2011 and 2015, the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) also provided 28% of its budget, or £151m, to cycling projects. Overall between 2011 and 2015 funding was more than doubled compared to the previous administration. For 2015/16, a further £15m will be invested in Cycle Rail, £11m in Bikeability and £64.5m in LSTF projects; £15m was also invested in the second phase of the Cycle Ambition City programme. Looking forward, a further £99m will be invested in the Cycle Ambition Cities, £50m in Bikeability and £100m via the Road Investment Strategy. Long-term funding is also available for cycling from the Integrated Transport Block, Highways Maintenance Block, and the Local Growth Fund, where around £270m is already planned by Local Enterprise Partnerships for cycling infrastructure.

Shipping: Pollution

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to ratify the 2004 Ballast Water Management Convention.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The UK has not ratified and will now, with the entry into force criteria so close to being met, accede to the Convention once it enters into force.

Shipping: Pollution

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the risk to the UK (a) posed by ballast water and (b) that diseases such as cholera may be transferred around the world through ballast water given rises in sea water temperature.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The UK has developed a number of voluntary procedures adopted by the maritime community to tackle the issue of invasive species and pathogens. Vessels on deep sea, international voyages are encouraged to undertake mid-ocean ballast water exchange. Within the North Sea and English Channel, ballast water exchange areas have been identified and vessels visiting UK ports are encouraged to use those areas where it has been assessed safe to do so. The Government continues to be a strong supporter of the Ballast Water Management Convention that aims to minimise the threat posed by harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens.

Home Office

Home Office: Sick Leave

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave such sick leave was in each such year.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 14 March 2016



The number of officials in the Home Office that took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and the proportion of (a) the department’s staff and (b) total sick leave such sick leave was in each such year is set out in Table 1 . Table 1  Total Home Office Staff Employed In Period (Headcount)Total Staff Employed In Period (HC) with stress sick absence(a) Proportion of Home Office staff Staff who took stress-related sick absences during the period(b) Proportion of all sick absence days lost in the period that were stress-relatedMar-1131,3343101.0%4.1%Mar-1228,8138743.0%11.8%Mar-1327,1947912.9%11.7%Mar-1428,3377882.8%12.3%Mar-1531,0037462.4%13.1%  Data Source: Data View - the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate Human Resources data.Employee Coverage: Data is based on headcount all paid civil servants, who were current at the reference date and 12 months of leavers.Period Covered: 1st April to 31st March each yearExtraction Date: 1st April each yearOrganisational Coverage: Mar-11 - Figures include core Home Office and the Executive Agencies; United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records BureauMar-12 - Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force) and the Executive Agencies; United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, the Criminal Records Bureau and National Fraud AuthorityMar-13 - Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force) and the Executive Agencies; United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and National Fraud AuthorityMar-14 - Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force, UK Visas & Immigration and Immigration Enforcement) and the Executive Agencies; Her Majesty's Passport Office and National Fraud AuthorityMar 15 - Figures include core Home Office (including Border Force, UK Visas & Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and Her Majesty's Passport Office.)1In 2012 improvements were made to standardise absence reporting, prior to this period the data was held on multiple systems and some systems did not have the level of granularity required to report on specific absence reasons.

Human Trafficking

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of collecting data about the specific region or town of origin of all victims of human trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: As part of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) pilot we are reviewing the information collected to ensure all relevant information is captured. As part of this we are considering the potential merits of collecting more granular data on the place of origin of victims of trafficking. Any fundamental changes to the NRM, including data collection, will be made after the NRM pilot has concluded.

Human Trafficking

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2016 to Question 30239, if her Department will collect centrally information on the number of warrants that are being issued in order to establish whether women are being trafficked.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has no current plans to collect information on the number of warrants issued specifically in relation to trafficking offences. Warrants are one tool used by law enforcement officers to pursue potential perpetrators and collect evidence. We are already seeing an increase in the number of prosecutions and convictions for modern slavery offences and we will continue to ensure that the police have the necessary powers to tackle modern slavery wherever it occurs.

Police: Cross Border Cooperation

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the UK has requested information (a) under the Prüm convention DNA sharing, (b) relating to the European Arrest Warrant about criminal records, (c) from the EU Passenger Name Record sharing scheme, (d) from a Europol Joint Investigation Team, (e) under the Schengen Information System, (f) from Europol's HAVEN project to combat sexual abuse and trafficking and (g) from other EU member states about stadium bans and previous offenders at football matches.

James Brokenshire: The United Kingdom is not yet connected to any other country for the sharing of DNA under the Prüm Council Decisions.The UK shares criminal record information with Member States via the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS). In 2015, the UK made 105,164 requests for overseas criminal record checks to other EU Member States, compared to 8,536 in 2010, an increase of over 1100%.European legislation is currently under consideration that would require EU Member States to process Passenger Name Records (PNR) on scheduled aviation flights. The proposed legislation would require the data to be analysed by a central Passenger Information Unit and all relevant and necessary PNR to be shared with the Passenger Information Units of other Member States in compliance with data protection obligations. Receiving PNR before travel allows law enforcement authorities to plan and respond proactively to threats. PNR plays a vital role in intelligence-led operations, post-incident investigations and judicial proceedings.Joint investigation teams are Member State led processes. Europol staff may participate in a supporting capacity.According to the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs IT Agency (eu-LISA), the UK had the following numbers of alerts active (that is, broadcast to Member States and not subsequently revoked) on 17 February 2014:People wanted by the UK on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) 231Missing adults 6,121Missing children 2,589Wanted for judicial purposes (e.g. Witnesses to be traced) 1,884Discreet alerts 10,438 Discreet alerts (national security) 478Europol’s Project HAVEN – Halting Europeans Abusing Victims in Every Nation- is part of Europol’s work under Focal Point Twins. The UK participates in and exchanges information under Europol’s Focal Point Twins and the aim is to support Member States and third countries to prevent or combat the activities of criminal networks involved in the sexual exploitation of children. Operations in the UK to counter organised crime relating to Child Sexual Exploitation have been supported by Europol, and the UK exchanges information on crimes of this nature with and through Europol via our Liaison Bureau, rather than through Project HAVEN.Between April 2014 and the end of December 2015,UK Football Policing Unit within the Home Office, the national football information point, requested information from other EU member states about stadium bans on 101 occasions. No figures are held on individual offenders with football bans.

Stone: Theft

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from local authorities on tackling stone theft.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of current penalties to deter stone theft.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with police authorities on tackling stone theft.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on local economies of stone theft.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to tackle stone theft.

Karen Bradley: Stone theft has a detrimental effect on towns and communities across England and Wales. The impact of these crimes includes both the economic cost to the victim, but there are also wider costs to the community, for example where schools, churches or heritage items are targeted by criminals.We have received no recent representations from local authorities on this issue, nor have we had recent discussions with the police on stone theft specifically. However, the police are working with Historic England, the Crown Prosecution Service and others to share intelligence and shape good practice in tackling and preventing heritage crime, such as stone theft.We would encourage all victims of stone theft, whether individuals or organisations, to report instances of these crimes to their local police, so that the crimes can be properly recorded and investigated. The local response is a matter for individual chief officers of police and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands that they face.We are satisfied that the existing legislation provides the police and courts with sufficient powers to respond to stone theft.

Police: Complaints

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in what circumstances the Independent Police Complaints Commission can refer a case back to the police.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases related to the Independent Police Complaints Commission  have been referred back to the police for investigation in each of the last six years.

Mike Penning: Police forces are required to refer (i) all Death and Serious Injury (DSI) matters and (ii) complaints and conduct matters that meet certain criteria, as set out in regulations, to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The IPCC assesses each referral on a case-by-case basis, by considering the seriousness of the matter and any relevant public interest factors. The IPCC may decide that an investigation is not required, in which case the matter will be referred back to the police force to decide what action to take. Alternatively, if the IPCC decides that the matter requires investigation, the IPCC must make a determination to undertake an independent investigation, an investigation under the supervision or management of the IPCC, or can refer back to the police force to investigate.In 2013 the Home Secretary announced a commitment to transfer resources to the IPCC to enable it to expand to undertake all serious and sensitive matters involving the police. The IPCC is currently undertaking a change programme to deliver this expansion. In 2013/14 the IPCC commenced 109 independent investigations whilst 241 were opened in 2014/15. The IPCC is on course to meet its target of delivering between 400 and 700 independent investigations in 2015/16.Reforms in the Policing and Crime Bill will build on this, enhancing the overall level of independence across IPCC investigations by removing managed and supervised investigations. Where the IPCC decides not to refer a matter back to the police force for investigation, it must undertake an independent investigation unless it considers that a directed investigation, a new form of investigation established by the Bill, is more appropriate.Information on how many cases referred to the IPCC have been referred back to the police for investigation is available on the IPCC’s website for the majority of the last six years (link: http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/page/archive-corporate-reports-and-plans). I will ask the IPCC to write to the Honourable Member, providing fuller information, and will ask for this response to be made available in the House Library.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British nationals were murdered abroad in each year since 2010; and in which countries those deaths took place.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 13 July 2015






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 14 July 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office only captures information about cases that come to our attention, rather than holding definitive information on the total number of UK nationals who are victims of murder and manslaughter overseas.The FCO has provided assistance to the following number of cases recorded as murder and manslaughter in each of the last five years:2010 46682011 70782012 59532013 76782014 89842015 67 (up to and including July 2015)88.In January 2015, the FCO established a new dedicated team to lead on murder and manslaughter cases. These cases have occurred throughout the world in the past five years. Since January, deaths have occurred in Afghanistan, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, USA, and Zambia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Holding answer received on 13 July 2015



The Foreign and Commonwealth Office only captures information about cases that come to our attention, rather than holding definitive information on the total number of UK nationals who are victims of murder and manslaughter overseas.The FCO has provided assistance to the following number of cases recorded as murder and manslaughter in each of the last five years:2010 46682011 70782012 59532013 76782014 89842015 67 (up to and including July 2015)88.In January 2015, the FCO established a new dedicated team to lead on murder and manslaughter cases. These cases have occurred throughout the world in the past five years. Since January, deaths have occurred in Afghanistan, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, USA, and Zambia.

Brazil: Olympic Games

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to implement the recent UN General Assembly Resolution on an Olympic truce during the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

James Duddridge: The United Kingdom co-sponsored the General Assembly resolution “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, which calls for Member States to observe the Olympic Truce – a cessation of hostilities around the Olympic Games – within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations, and to promote peace through sport. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the UK already works to uphold the UN Charter and its commitment to the maintenance of international peace and security.For the 2012 Olympic Games in London the UK was the first ever nation to get all 193 UN Member States to sign the Olympic Truce. We are actively involved in building links between countries through sport. HM Government supported the successful London 2012 International Inspiration programme that reached 25m children in twenty countries through the power of sport and continues to support a range of other related initiatives around the world such as the British Council's Premier Skills and Try Rugby programmes. Looking ahead to next year's IAAF World Athletics Championships due to be hosted in London, the Government, through UK Sport, is supporting LEAP (Leadership and Excellence in Athletics Programme) which aims to develop youth athletics in a number of countries around the world.

Thailand: Christianity

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he is making to (a) the UN and (b) his Thailand counterpart on the detention of Pakistani Christians fleeing religious persecution in Thailand despite being UN-registered asylum seekers.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are concerned about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand. We continue to work with the UNHCR in Thailand on a wide range of refugee issues. However, Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. Once any form of legal immigration status expires, refugees and asylum claimants may be deemed to be in Thailand illegally even if they have registered with the UNHCR. Nonetheless, we have pressed the Thai authorities to apply international humanitarian norms and standards when handling these vulnerable groups. We are also working with the Thai authorities to improve conditions of detention.

North Korea: Capital Punishment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his North Korean counterpart on the reported recent execution of Ri Yong-gil in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are aware of reports of the execution of General Ri Yong-gil, the Chief of Staff of the Korean People’s Army, on Wednesday 10 February 2016. Due to the closed nature of the regime in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), we cannot verify the accuracy of these reports. The UK, working with the EU and Japan, has ensured that annual UN resolutions consistently call on the DPRK to end its use of the death penalty and adhere to international standards on judicial procedures. We also use our diplomatic relations to raise our concerns directly with North Korea officials in London and Pyongyang.

Turkey: Freedom of Expression

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Turkish government on the takeover of the Zaman newspaper and restrictions on press freedom and freedom of speech in Turkey.

Mr David Lidington: We continue to monitor specific cases and regularly underline the importance of freedom of expression and all fundamental freedoms as part of our broader dialogue with the Turkish government. We welcomed the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey, released on 10 November, which highlighted the need for further reforms from Turkey in these areas. As a friend and ally, we urge the Turkish government to uphold the right of media to operate without restriction. The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) did so on 7 March when he met Turkey’s Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, and underlined the importance of protections for a free press and human rights in Turkey. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) set out the UK’s concerns on freedom of expression when he met his Turkish counterpart on 12 March. I also discussed media freedoms and rule of law issues when I met Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister on 12 March.

European Commission

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress the European Council has made on the commitment in its conclusions of 27 June 2014 to consider the process for the appointment of the President of the European Commission for the future; and what assessment he has made of the role of Spitzenkandidaten in deciding the president of the Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: Holding answer received on 14 March 2016



The European Council has not yet held substantive discussions on this point of the conclusions of 27 June 2014. The Treaties clearly set out the roles the European Council and the European Parliament respectively play in the process of selecting the president of the European Commission. The Government’s view remains that, in accordance with the Treaties, only the European Council has the prerogative to propose the president of the European Commission.

Germany: Refugees

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the statement of the Minister for Europe of 9 March 2016 that after 10 years only about 2.2 per cent of the refugees who arrived in Germany have been granted German citizenship, what source that figure is based on; how that figure was calculated; and what information his Department holds on comparative figures for other EU countries.

Mr David Lidington: Holding answer received on 14 March 2016



The figure of 2.2 per cent is the percentage of foreign nationals resident for at least ten years in Germany who have become naturalised German citizens. It is known as the “Exhausted Naturalisation Potential” and is calculated by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).The source is the 2014 Migration Report, published in January this year which can be found on the BAMF website:http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Publikationen/Migrationsberichte/migrationsbericht-2014.htmlComparative figures for other EU states are not held centrally by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Security Guards

Catherine West: To ask the Attorney General, how much security guards in the Law Officers' Departments are paid.

Robert Buckland: None of the Law Officers’ Departments employ any security guards directly. Security costs for all departments are instead paid as part of wider contracts for building services.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Living Wage: Internet

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 20599, how many (a) page views and (b) visitors the www.livingwage.gov.uk website has had in each week since its launch.

Nick Boles: Since the launch of the National Living Wage website we have achieved the following:WeekPage viewsVisitorsDecember 6 to 12 (launched on the 7th)8,6677,789Dec 13 to Dec 1910,2359,207December 20 to 266,2415,003December 27 to January 27,1535,742January 3 to 917,90013,853January 10 to 1622,94517,794January 17 to 19 (partial week as answered on Jan 20)16,31212,641

Business: Government Assistance

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses have signed agreements with the Business Growth Service in each local authority area in the UK.

Anna Soubry: The attached table shows the number of businesses that have signed agreements with the Business Growth Service in each local authority area in the UK since the service launched in December 2014.



Business Growth Service statistics
(PDF Document, 184.97 KB)

Higher Education: Antisemitism

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking with university vice chancellors to encourage action to prevent threats of physical violence against Jewish students and connected parties.

Joseph Johnson: There is no place in our society, including higher education, for bigotry, hatred and any form of racism such as anti-Semitism. We expect universities to act swiftly to investigate and address any anti-Semitic incidents reported to them.Responsibility for ensuring students do not face harassment, abuse or violence rests with individual institutions, as a clear part of their duties under the 2010 Equality Act.The higher education sector is committed to tackling discrimination and challenging intolerance on campus. Bodies such as Universities UK (UUK), Guild HE and the Equality Challenge Unit provide support to institutions to help discharge their responsibilities through the provision of practical guidance, discussion and networking events to help share best practice across the sector.In addition, at the request of the Government, UUK have set up a task force to consider what more can be done to address harassment on campus, including on the basis of religion and belief. The Union of Jewish Students are part of the wider advisory group.It was extremely disappointing that a recent event organised by the Kings College Israel Society was disrupted by aggression and violent scenes. Kings College have undertaken a review of what happened and have implemented some changes to their procedures as a result. It is completely unacceptable for legitimate free speech to be shut down on our universities campuses through intimidation and harassment and we will continue to fully support university leaders who take a strong stance on this.I recently wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford to raise my concerns about reports of anti-Semitic behaviour by members of the Oxford University Labour Club and to reiterate that universities have a clear responsibility to ensure the safety of all their students and to seek her reassurance that the allegations are being fully investigated.The Prevent Duty, introduced in September 2015, requires institutions to risk assess events and speakers and put in place whatever mitigation is required to ensure that events are protected from those trying to prevent free speech. It is important that universities protect the core values of freedom of speech and academic enquiry but also take seriously the risks associated with any form of extremism at universities.

Research Councils: Cooperation

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) human resources, (b) communications, (c) grant administration, (d) building and estates management and (e) other administrative functions are shared by the seven research councils; and which such services are delivered independently by each research council.

Joseph Johnson: The seven Research Councils currently operate their own corporate functions, with separate Human Resources, Finance, Communications and IT operations.The Research Councils are working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on a new digital grants system and common technology platform.The Research Councils share a number of services including a main campus in Swindon at Polaris House; access to the London base of the Medical Research Council (MRC); and Internal Audit and Assurance functions, which are hosted by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). BBSRC also operate the estates and facilities management of Polaris House.All seven Councils have their transactional HR, finance, payroll, systems and grants administration provided by UK Shared Business Services and six of the seven Councils share a pension scheme and its administration, with MRC running its own pension scheme.The Government is implementing Sir Paul Nurse’s report, which recommended an evolution of the Research Councils into a formal organisation with a single Accounting Officer. Sir Paul advised that a new Research UK body could support the whole system to collectively become more than the sum of its parts, including by simplifying transactional operations, reducing the burden of administration currently placed on each individual Research Council, and enabling a stronger focus on multi-disciplinary research. We also want to strengthen collaboration between the research base and the commercialisation of discoveries in the business community and this is why we are looking to integrate Innovate UK into Research UK. Innovate UK will retain its clear business focus and separate funding stream.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Overtime

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department has paid to staff in overtime in each of the last 24 months.

Joseph Johnson: The table below provides a breakdown of overtime paid and the number of claimants for each month in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) HQ, in the last 24 months from February 2014 to January 2016.The relevant budget holder must give approval before overtime can be worked or overtime pay claimed. Overtime pay is non-pensionable and can only be paid to staff below the Senior Civil Service. Approximately 0.3% of the annual BIS paybill is paid in overtime.MonthOvertime Payments – BIS HQNumber of BIS HQ Staff Making ClaimsFebruary 2014£55,032.1598March 2014£73,754.92102April 2014£61,699.3397May 2014£38,664.1675June 2014£64,135.4491July 2014£79,053.18106August 2014£45,977.3875September 2014£38,306.5569October 2014£33,276.0985November 2014£44,786.2868December 2014£47,025.8580January 2015£45,380.4964February 2015£58,541.1495March 2015£68,139.0899April 2015£52,546.4698May 2015£34,257.1669June 2015£44,667.1487July 2015£55,187.8681August 2015£47,242.2871September 2015£27,737.4161October 2015£44,006.4872November 2015£52,376.2274December 2015£48,453.8571January 2016£52,221.5869

Universities: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for UK universities of the proposal for a £1,000 a year levy on all businesses employing skilled non-EU staff.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 03 March 2016



The Government is considering carefully the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on the rate and scope of the Immigration Skills Charge. In advance of finalising the regulations that will introduce the charge from April 2017, we will take account of evidence about the likely impact on different types of organisation, including universities.

Students: Fees and Charges

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if his Department will publish the full list of Equivalent or Lower Qualification exempt subjects announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 07 March 2016



Part time students studying for a second degree in subjects allied to medicine; biological sciences; veterinary sciences, agriculture and related subjects; physical sciences; and mathematical sciences will be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the 2017/18 academic year. These are in addition to the exemption for part time technology, computer science and engineering degrees introduced in 2015/16. Subject lists below these broad headings are published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency at https://www.hesa.ac.uk/component/content/article?id=1787

Small Businesses: Floods

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in areas that have recently been affected by flooding.

Anna Soubry: Following this winter’s severe flooding across northern England, including Calderdale, this Government put in place a comprehensive response and Calderdale has already received over £9.8 million in funding for business and community support.Specifically for small and medium sized businesses there are three ways we are helping:- giving flooded businesses business rates relief (£1.6 million for Calderdale)- providing business recovery grants to help deal with exceptional costs borne by flooded businesses (£1.55 million paid out to businesses to date); and- grants to incorporate greater flood resilience into any repairs undertaken by flooded businesses, helping to reduce the future impacts of flooding (£52,000 paid out to date to homes and businesses in Calderdale).Other measures such as getting roads, bridges and rail services back working again and repairing and improving flood defences are also clearly a significant help. This includes the £5.5 m to repair Elland Bridge and to provide a temporary footbridge in the interim.

Refugees: Syria

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what access to higher education Syrian refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme will have.

Joseph Johnson: Syrian refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme will have access to home fee status and student support in England for higher education. Those granted humanitarian protection will be able, like UK citizens, to secure access to support after three years’ lawful ordinary residency in the UK.

Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency: Offices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many offices were operated by the (a) Skills Funding Agency and (b) Education Funding Agency in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: In response to your question:- YearEFASFAApril 201211 sites21 sitesApril 201311 sites18 sitesApril 20147 sites20 sitesApril 20156 sites*21 sitesApril 20166 sites*15 sites * In addition a small number of EFA staff are based at a satellite office in BristolEFA is co-located on all sites with other parts of the Department for Education and the reduction in the number of sites since 2012 was part of a DfE wide change programme.

Overseas Investment: Treaties

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that UK bilateral investment treaties meet the commitment in the Government's document, Good Business: Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, published in September 2013, to ensure that agreements facilitating investment overseas by UK or EU companies incorporate the business responsibility to respect human rights.

Anna Soubry: The UK is signatory to over 90 bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The objective of the BITs is to provide protection to investors against actions from the host state (whether the UK or the other party) that comprise unfair or discriminatory treatment of investors rather than to facilitate investment. Fair, non-discriminatory and proportionate action taken by a host state, including to protect human rights, would not breach an investment protection and as such, it is unlikely that a BIT could be invoked by an investor in a way that is detrimental to human rights. The Government is not aware of any investor-state dispute settlement claims made by UK investors under existing BITs that have led directly to or contributed towards a negative impact on human rights.

EU Grants and Loans: Wales

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which projects in Wales have received European Commission funding in each of the last five years; and how much each such project received in each year.

Anna Soubry: A list of all projects financed by the European Structural Funds in the 2007-13 period can be found on the Welsh Government website under ‘Funding’, ‘European funds in Wales’, ‘Previous European Structural Funds programmes’, ‘Approved project database 2007-2013’.Implementation of the 2014-2020 European Structural Funds programmes is at an early stage. A list of projects to be financed in Wales by the Structural Funds for 2014-2020 can be found on the Welsh Government website under ‘Funding’, ‘European funds in Wales’, ‘European Structural Funds 2014-2020’, ‘Approved projects and ideas under development’.The Seventh Framework Programme 2007-2013 has provided grants to research and innovation projects across the EU. The European Commission’s figures show that the total value of grants awarded to organisations in Wales under this programme was €145,243,199 (up to and including 11 November 2015). For 2014-2020, the Horizon 2020 programme (the successor to the Seventh Framework Programme) has awarded grants with a total value of €39,932,431 to organisations in Wales (up to and including 23 February 2016).

Sunday Trading: Small Businesses

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the effect Sunday trading will have on small enterprises.

Anna Soubry: In view of the will of the House, we are no longer proposing to give local authorities the ability to extend the Sunday trading hours of large shops.

Students: Disadvantaged

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that students from low income households are encouraged to study (a) medicine, (b) law and (c) banking.

Joseph Johnson: We are taking significant steps to widen participation in higher education and ensure greater focus by institutions on employability.From the 2015/16 academic year, we have removed the cap on student numbers, enabling more people than ever before to benefit from higher education our recent Green Paper Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, CM 9141 sets out additional steps the Government plans to take to increase the proportion of students from disadvantaged background entering higher education. In particular, the new Teaching Excellence Framework will encourage a stronger focus on employability in higher education institutions.Since 2010 we have established a stronger framework with increased responsibility placed on higher education institutions to widen participation for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds – up from £404m in 2009/10. In our recent guidance to the Director of Fair Access, published on February 11th 2016, we said that we wanted the Director to encourage institutions to undertake work to improve access to the professions for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Director has reflected this steer in his own guidance to institutions about their access agreements for 2017/18.In the field of medicine, the Medical Schools Council initiated the “Selecting for Excellence” project, supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to look at widening participation issues. A report was launched in December 2014 which set out a range of recommendations for the sector to take forward aimed at supporting access to medical schools.The Key Information Set provides comparable course level information (including information on employment outcomes and student satisfaction ratings) and so helps young people choose the right course for them. As a result of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, information on the labour market outcomes of graduates will be further improved when HMRC employment and earnings data are made available following development and testing.

Universities: Staff

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research has been undertaken by (a) the Government, (b) HEFCE, (c) the HE Academy and (d) other government-funded agencies on the relationship between levels of casualised, non-permanent university teaching staff and teaching quality.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what research his Department or its funded agencies has carried out on the effect on academic careers of non-permanent teaching and research posts in UK universities.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 11 March 2016



On teaching, the Higher Education Academy (HEA) produced a literature review ‘Shifting academic careers: implications for enhancing professionalism in teaching and supporting learning’ published in 2014. We have also asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to look into the contractual status of academic staff to investigate how this could be measured and potentially feed into Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessments for future years. On research, ‘The Impact of Doctoral Careers’ (2014) was funded by RCUK, HEFCE and HEFCW.

Living Wage: Small Businesses

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the cost to small and medium-sized enterprises of implementing the national living wage.

Nick Boles: The Government’s Impact Assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage estimates the cost of the initial £7.20 rate will be just under £530 million in total for small, micro and medium sized businesses.

Living Wage

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what additional training provision and schemes his Department plans to put in place to support job losses arising as a consequence of the national living wage.

Nick Boles: The 2015 spending review made provision for a major expansion of adult further education, to increase employment and productivity levels.The Government has maintained funding for the core adult skills participation budgets in cash terms at £1.5bn and is also increasing opportunities in technical and professional education by doubling the level of spending on apprenticeships by 2019-20 in 2010-11 cash terms, including income from the new apprenticeship levy. It will be almost £900 million higher in 2019-20 than in 2015-16. By 2019-20, spending on apprenticeships in England will be £2.5 billion.The combination of the levy, the protection of the AEB, the extension of advanced learner loans, and the introduction of the youth obligation means that by the end of the Parliament, the cash value of core adult FE funding to support participation will be at its highest ever. The total spending power of the FE sector to support participation will be £3.41bn by 2019-20, which is a cash terms increase of 40% compared with 2015-16 (real terms 30%).

Industry

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women in each of the sectors covered by his Department's 11 industrial strategies.

Anna Soubry: The original industrial strategies did not contain estimates for employment by gender. Where sectors are clearly defined by Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) we have been able to calculate estimates of these using published ONS data. Where this is not the case estimates are unavailable.Employment in Industrial Strategy Sectors by Gender 2014 MaleFemaleTotalAerospace9914113Automotive13117148Construction (Contracting only)1,8332832,116Digital Economy1,0714751,546Life Sciences553590Oil and Gas24529Professional and Business Services2,4391,8124,251Source: BIS Calculations on ONS Annual Business Survey and Employee Jobs Data

Living Wage

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) private and (b) public sector organisations of implementing the National Living Wage in each of the next three years.

Nick Boles: The Government’s Impact Assessment for the introduction of the National Living Wage estimates that the cost of increasing pay to the £7.20 rate on private sector and public sector employers will be approximately £800m and £36m respectively in 2016/17. The Government has not produced an estimate for each of the next three years.

Minimum Wage: Young People

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will increase the national minimum wage for under 18s to the same rate as the adult level.

Nick Boles: For younger workers, the priority is to secure work and gain valuable experience – something that is reflected in the existing age structure of the National Minimum Wage.On 14th April my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an increase in the 16-17 year old National Minimum Wage rate by 3.4% (13p) to £4.00 per hour. This is the fastest and largest increase since 2008.

Minimum Wage

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2016 to Question 26318, what the reasons are for the differences between the total amount of arrears owed by the 92 employers named and shamed by his Department on 5 February 2016 for non-compliance with the national minimum wage and the total amount of the financial penalties imposed on those employers; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: Penalties are calculated based on the value of arrears on the Notice of Underpayment issued by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) but vary according to the penalty regime in place at the time underpayments took place and how quickly the employer pays back arrears to the worker. The rate at which penalties are calculated has increased twice since the beginning of the naming scheme, demonstrating our continued commitment to the enforcement of minimum wage law: For underpayments which occurred before 7 March 2014, the penalty rate was set at 50% of arrears owed;For underpayments which occurred on or after 7 March 2014, the rate was set at 100% of arrears owed;From April 2016, underpayments will result in penalties set at 200% of arrears owed. The amount at which penalties are capped has also increased. Before 7 March 2014 penalties were capped at £5,000 per employer. The Government increased the cap to £20,000, and began to apply it on a per-worker basis from 26 May 2015. Currently, an employer who pays back arrears within 14 days of receiving a Notice of Underpayment from HMRC are subject to a 50% penalty rate, which incentivises quick repayment of the money owed to employees. After penalties are doubled to 200% of arrears in April, this prompt payment rate will also double to 100% of arrears. Of the 92 employers named on 5 February, 66 paid back the arrears they owed within 14 days, and were therefore subject to a reduced penalty rate.

Aerospace Industry: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland is able to contribute to the UK aerospace industry.

Anna Soubry: We continue to work closely with the aerospace industry in Northern Ireland through the UK wide Aerospace Growth Partnership to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs. This work is integral to the Northern Ireland growth implementation strategy 'Partnering for Growth' led by Invest Northern Ireland and supported by the industry body ADS. It includes action to support industry in innovation and technology development, strengthening the competitiveness and manufacturing capability of suppliers and raising skills levels  The steps taken to back this work include a £1.95 billion commitment by the Government, over 13 years to 2026, for new aerospace research and development projects supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute My Department and the Northern Ireland Executive are also investing a total of almost £135 million in the development of the C Series aircraft supporting hundreds of jobs in Belfast at Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering Services and its UK supply chain.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Skills of 10 March 2016, what assessment he has made of the potential take-up of the apprenticeship levy by employers.

Nick Boles: Apprenticeships are paid jobs and their availability is employer demand-led, so we do not publish future forecasts. The levy will put apprenticeship funding in the hands of employers and will encourage an increase in the quality and quantity of apprenticeships in England.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the potential number of large employers who will require existing training expenditure as a result of the introduction of the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles: The Government is committed to significantly increasing the quantity and quality of apprenticeships in England to 3 million new starts by 2020. Overall, there has been a steady decline in the amount and quality of training undertaken by employers over the last 20 years. This has been bad for productivity. We need a step change to reverse these trends and secure a high quality, sustainable apprenticeship programme, which is why we are introducing a levy on larger employers. The introduction of the apprenticeship levy will put employers in control of funding and incentivise them to train more apprentices. Large employers can potentially get out more than they put into the levy and will therefore have greater reward if they invest significantly in training their workforce. We are working closely with employers on the details of the design of the apprenticeship levy in preparation for its launch in April 2017.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Skills of 10 March 2016, whether the £1.5 billion raised by the apprenticeship levy in England referred to will be part of the £2.5 billion for 2019-20 or additional to it.

Nick Boles: By 2019-20 we expect the apprenticeship levy to raise £3 billion annually. We expect to spend £2.5 billion on apprenticeships in England. This is an increase of £1 billion on the £1.5 billion committed to apprenticeships in 2015-16. This increase in expenditure demonstrates the importance that the Government places on high quality apprenticeships in supporting employers and growth of the economy.

ACAS

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how (a) much funding has been paid to and (b) many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Advisory. Conciliation and Arbitration Service in each year since 2009-10.

Nick Boles: Set out below is the amount of funding paid to Acas and is full-time equivalent staff for each year since 2009-10.Financial yearStaff no. (FTE)Grant in Aid (£'000)2009-1088055,6872010-1187647,2002011-1282748,0092012-1378746,4502013-1478745,8002014-1578444,2402015-16782 (end Feb)44,478

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Disability

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to increase its engagement with people with disabilities and representative organisations in its priority countries.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID’s Disability Framework, published in 2015, recognises that including people with disabilities through local Disabled Person’s Organisations (DPOs) in the design, delivery and monitoring and evaluation of policy and programmes is critically important. This means both hearing first-hand the challenges people with disabilities are facing and identifying effective approaches for collectively addressing these challenges.Many DFID country offices are engaging directly with local people with disabilities to shape and direct their work. For example, in Rwanda we are engaged with the National Council of Disabled Persons and the National Union of Disabled Organisations of Rwanda (NUDOR), which represents a large number of DPOs. Through our partnerships with VSO, Disability Rights Fund (DRF), Manusher Jonno Foundation, and ADD International we are funding more than 100 DPOs in more than 20 countries to push for human rights and to improve lives for people with disabilities.

Developing Countries: Disability

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to review work under the Disability Framework and report its outcomes in 2018.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID follows a ‘twin-track’ approach to disability inclusion. This means we aim to attach priority to disability in all our policies and programmes as well as supporting disability-targeted programmes. Last year we conducted a review of our first year of implementing the Disability Framework. This involved working closely with civil society partners and our stakeholders to invite their assessment of our progress and to analyse the information we received, assessing staff capability on disability inclusion and gathering feedback from DFID country offices and central teams on how they had delivered on Framework commitments.We will consider conducting a similar approach moving forward.

Developing Countries: Disability

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department plans to implement its Disability Framework.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID follows a ‘twin-track’ approach to disability inclusion. This means we attach priority to disability in all our policies and programmes as well as supporting disability-targeted programmes.We have made significant progress in mainstreaming disability inclusion in our humanitarian response, including the development of an internal guidance note on ageing and disability in humanitarian response. We will build on this foundation by supporting partners to deliver on our commitment to include disaggregated data on age and disability as part of our requirements for funding humanitarian proposals, and advocating for the use of the Minimum Standards on Ageing and Disability Inclusion with humanitarian partners to improve the mainstreaming of the principles of inclusion.DFID has funded the Disability Rights Fund (DRF) since its inception in 2008 and our current grant of over £2.6 million between 2013 and 2016 reinforces our commitment to the DRF. With support from DFID, the DRF supports Disabled People’s Organisations in the developing world to take the lead in advocating for the human rights of people with disabilities at local and national levels.

Department for International Development: Security Guards

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much security guards in her Department are paid.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The security guarding at DFID’s 2 headquarter premises in East Kilbride and Whitehall is provided by Mitie Security who set their staff pay rates. The rates of pay vary according to staff responsibility. The minimum hourly rates meet or exceed the current Living Wage Foundation rates for the UK or London depending on the location of the employee.

Burundi: Refugees

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department plans to provide to refugees from Burundi.

Mr Nick Hurd: HMG is concerned by the ongoing political unrest in Burundi, and its humanitarian consequences. DFID has provided over £21 million since April 2015 to support Burundian refugees in Tanzania and Rwanda. We continue to monitor the situation and will consider further support if need arises.

Middle East: Refugees

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to support refugees in camps in the Middle East.

Mr Desmond Swayne: At the Syria Conference the UK announced that we will more than double our commitment to the Syria crisis, to £2.3 billion. The UK supports refugees, displaced and vulnerable people and host communities across the Middle East including in Yemen, Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Developing Countries: Education

Michelle  Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that children's right to education is protected across the world.

Mr Nick Hurd: DFID is committed to the Global Goal for education which aims to make sure that every girl and boy receives a quality education, including the poorest and most vulnerable. The UK supported 11 million children’s education between 2010 and 2015. We are committed to supporting 11 million children between 2015 and 2020.

Syria: International Assistance

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress has been made on delivering the commitments made to Jordan at the Syria Donors Conference.

Mr Desmond Swayne: In Jordan, a Management Unit has been set up within the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to which DFID has seconded staff. Existing co-ordination mechanisms, such as the Government-Donor Education group, are developing plans to deliver the Conference goals.

Overseas Aid

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of Overseas Development Assistance funding the Government plans will be spent by (a) her Department and (b) other government departments in the current Parliament; and what measures are in place to monitor how that funding is spent.

Justine Greening: Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, DFID will spend 72% of UK ODA, other departments and funds 22%, and the remaining 6% will be non-departmental spend such as debt relief and gift aid. Departments are responsible for ensuring their ODA budget offers high value for money. DFID will provide advice and support where requested.

Developing Countries: Mobile Phones

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to enable developing countries to harness mobile phone technology.

Mr Nick Hurd: Our partnership with mobile phone operator group, the GSMA, has used mobile technology to improve the reach, delivery and affordability of basic energy, water and sanitation services for 1.3 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and many of our other programmes in health, education and other sectors use mobile technology.

Armed Conflict: Schools

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to protect schools in conflict zones.

Mr Desmond Swayne: HMG deplores the fact that armed conflict can expose students and teaching personnel to harm. We believe that better implementation of, and better compliance with, existing International Humanitarian Law will provide the best protection for civilians, including children, in all situations of armed conflict.

Overseas Aid

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of Overseas Development Assistance funding the Government plans will be spent by (a) her Department and (b) other government departments in the current Parliament; and what measures are in place to monitor how that funding is spent.

Justine Greening: Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, DFID will spend 72% of UK ODA, other departments and funds 22%, and the remaining 6% will be non-departmental spend such as debt relief and gift aid. Departments are responsible for ensuring their ODA budget offers high value for money. DFID will provide advice and support where requested.

Developing Countries: Mobile Phones

Lucy Frazer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to enable developing countries to harness mobile phone technology.

Mr Nick Hurd: Our partnership with mobile phone operator group, the GSMA, has used mobile technology to improve the reach, delivery and affordability of basic energy, water and sanitation services for 1.3 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and many of our other programmes in health, education and other sectors use mobile technology.

Department for Education

Home Education

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils are home schooled; and how many were so schooled in (a) 2005 and (b) 2010.

Edward Timpson: Data for the numbers of children educated at home in England are not collected by the Department for Education. Some local authorities maintain voluntary registers of children educated at home but as they have no statutory basis, they cannot be regarded as an authoritative source of data.

Department for Education: EU Grants and Loans

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26338, on EU grants and loans, which organisations have received grants from the £71 million European Social Fund monies.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The European Social Fund provides support for young people aged 14-19 who were not in education, employment or training, or who were at risk of being so, for the period December 2013 to July 2015 (2007-2013 European Social Fund programme extended to 2015). This funding was awarded under contract following an open and competitive tendering process. The procurement process was administered by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Education Funding Agency. The list of organisations contracted to deliver this provision can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/294667/SFA_ESF_Programme_Summary_-_14-19_NEET.pdf

GCSE: Standards

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the relative performance at GCSE of (a) pupils who are home schooled and (b) other pupils.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not hold information for pupils taking GCSEs who are home schooled. The latest information for other pupils is available from the “Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2014 to 2015” statistical first release available on GOV.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015.

Carers: Young People

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to give young carers under the age of 16 (a) financial support and (b) other assistance to continue with mainstream education.

Edward Timpson: Schools play an important part in identifying pupils who are young carers and in offering them appropriate support. That is why the Department for Education has worked with Carers Trust and The Children’s Society for many years to share tools, good practice and increase awareness in schools of young carers’ issues. Ofsted inspectors will also pay particular attention to the outcomes achieved by young carers in schools. We have changed the law so that, since April 2015, all young carers are entitled to an assessment of their needs for support, regardless of who they care for, what type of care they provide or how much time they spend caring. It is worth noting that a significant proportion, around 60%, of young carers are thought to be eligible for free school meals, and those who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years will be attracting pupil premium funding to the schools that they attend. We are also grant-funding Suffolk Family Carers over £111,000 in 2015-16 to run a local project to raise awareness of young carers amongst teachers, non-teaching staff and school nurses, including a focus on young carers’ mental health, supporting Suffolk County Council’s strategy on young carers.

Carers: Young People

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the savings to the public purse of young carers supporting their families instead of the local authority doing so.

Edward Timpson: Young carers are this country’s unsung heroes, selflessly providing support for the people they love. Yet, for the most noble of reasons, they can often overlook their own needs. This government recognises the enormous contribution that young carers make and that’s why we are improving support for carers of all ages and developing a new cross-government carers strategy. No official assessment has been made of the savings to the public purse of young carers supporting their families.

Home Education

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps Ofsted is taking to ensure that home schooled children are (a) taught about British values and (b) integrated into British society.

Edward Timpson: Ofsted has no powers or duties in respect of home education with regards to specific children who are being educated at home. We recognise that parents may choose to home school their children and may do a good job, but that education must be of a suitable quality. If parents do educate children at home, a local authority may intervene if it appears to the authority that the parents are not fulfilling their duty. When Ofsted inspects children’s services in local authorities under section 136 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, it considers the effectiveness of the authority’s arrangements for dealing with children missing education, a category which includes any children who are home educated but not receiving a suitable education. We are taking steps to ensure the system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people, while at the same time safeguarding the rights of parents to determine how and where to educate their children.

Ministry of Justice

Personal Injury

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the MedCo Portal in tracking whiplash claims.

Dominic Raab: The MedCo IT portal became operational in April 2015, its purpose being to enhance the independence and standards of medical reporting in respect of whiplash claims.As of 14 March 2016, 503,000 searches resulting in the selection of a Medical Reporting Organisation or an individual medical expert have been made on the MedCo system. These searches have been by authorised users of the system, usually solicitors acting for prospective claimants in whiplash cases. Management information related to these searches is regularly scrutinised by MedCo to identify potential issues.The impact of the new MedCo system is currently under review and a report detailing the outcomes of this review will be published by the Ministry of Justice in due course.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of crash for cash accidents since the implementation of the whiplash reform programme.

Dominic Raab: This information is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Insurance: Fraud

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for crash for cash fraud in (i) England, (ii) the North West and (iii) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Dominic Raab: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 28610, which outsourced providers his Department uses for cleaning services; and if he will request information from those providers on the rate of pay for cleaners providing services for his Department.

Mike Penning: All employers are obligated to pay a minimum of the new National Living Wage from April 2016.

Prisoners: Legal Aid Scheme

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in legal aid was granted to prison inmates in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many inmates of Wakefield prison have been granted legal aid to pursue civil action in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The information requested is not held centrally. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not identify or record in its databases whether civil legal aid applicants are prisoners as this does not affect eligibility for legal aid funding.Information on how much in legal aid was granted to prison inmates within the prison law category of criminal legal aid in each of the last five years is published by the Ministry of Justice as part of the Legal aid statistics at the following link on the gov.uk website.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015

Ministry of Defence

Trident Submarines: Finance

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 3 March 2016, HCWS576, on Successor Submarine Assessment Phase, whether the sum of £642 million expenditure announced represents new expenditure over and above that originally budgeted for the Assessment Phase; whether that sum includes any money which has been the subject of earlier press announcements by his Department; and which projects of what value that sum has been allocated to fund.

Mr Philip Dunne: As announced in my Written Statement of 3 March 2016, HCWS576, the funding will supplement the Successor submarine programme Assessment Phase, taking that investment to £3.9 billion. The additional investment covers activity for Nuclear Propulsion systems, Facilities and Infrastructure, the Common Missile Compartment and submarine Design, including Design Assurance. All of the projects have previously been announced. I am withholding cost estimates as to release them would prejudice commercial interests.

Trident Submarines

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the relevance of the Final Report of the US Defense Science Board Task Force on Resilient Military Systems, published on 10 October 2012, to the security of Trident submarines.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence are aware of the report in question which has not alerted us to anything new. We continue to place a high priority on assuring the effectiveness of our nuclear deterrent and managing the associated risk. We continue to monitor and evaluate capabilities and technologies that could threaten the nuclear deterrent, including from cyber-attack. It would not be appropriate to go into specific detail of the steps taken to mitigate against these threats but note that the report points out that submarine platforms have isolation "designed into how they operate and fight" and that this isolation provides nuclear armed submarines with additional resilience over other nuclear weapon systems.

Rosyth Dockyard

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of giving the Rosyth Dockyard strategic asset status.

Mr Philip Dunne: In the context of defence-related sites, 'strategic asset status' is not a recognised term.

Aircraft Carriers: Repairs and Maintenance

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what locations are being considered for refit work on HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently assessing the viability of dry dock locations where refit work on the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC)Aircraft Carriers could be carried out. I am withholding the locations being considered as their disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of the MOD.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of his Department's (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

Justin Tomlinson: Within the Department for Work and Pensions – 112 (51%) of Senior Civil Servants and 627 (68%) of core policy civil servants are based in London. 84,761 staff were in post within the department on 29 February 2016.

Department for Work and Pensions: Legal Costs

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's legal costs were in the Supreme Court cases UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government has incurred approximately £52,299 to date on legal costs in the joined cases of MA, A & Rutherford v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the Supreme Court (UKSC 2014/0129, UKSC 2014/0139, UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025). Due to the way in which the cases are billed, it is not possible to provide a separate figure for UKSC 2016/0029 and UKSC 2016/0025. It should be noted that this figure includes VAT where this is payable (e.g. on Counsel’s fees) and disbursements but does not include costs attributable to the time spent by Government advisory lawyers, as time spent by such advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. It should also be noted that this figure does not include all of Counsel’s fees incurred in relation to proceedings during February and March which have not yet been billed.

Employment Schemes: Food Banks

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what feedback his Department has received on its trial of work coaches in foodbanks.

Priti Patel: Early feedback suggests that this has resulted in strong working relationships between Jobcentre Plus and local partners. It has shown that it can have a positive impact in supporting people who have a range of complex needs to access in work and out of work support.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will amend the terms of reference for the independent review of the state pension age to exclude the existing timetable up to 2028 from the scope of the review.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government has no plans to make changes for those reaching State Pension age before 2028.The State Pension age review will be forward looking and focussed on the longer term. It will not cover the existing State Pension age timetable up to April 2028 which is already legislated for.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people found to be committing benefit fraud and not prosecuted in court in each of the last two years (a) have repaid monies due in full, (b) are actively making repayments, (c) are in arrears with their repayments and (d) have since been prosecuted for breaching their agreement to pay.

Justin Tomlinson: Information in the form requested for questions a, b and c is not readily available and could only be compiled at disproportionate cost.In answer to question d, the Department does not hold this information.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases of benefit fraud were identified in each of the last three years; and what proportion of such cases were prosecuted in court.

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with a criminal conviction for benefit fraud were given a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence for that fraud in each of the last three years.

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received a criminal conviction for defrauding (a) £0 to £1,000, (b) £1,101 to £5,000, (c) £5,001 to £10,000 and (d) over £10,000 in benefits in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested to answer the 3 questions is shown below.  (30342 & 30344)In response to cases prosecuted in court and the number of people convicted for benefit fraud (a) and (b) the statistics for England and Wales can be found using this link:– https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014 (Select and open “Outcomes by offence tables” under fraud offences you will find: 53.3 Benefit fraud offences - triable either way) The statistics for Scotland can be found using this link:-http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/02/6001 (Table 4a provides statistics on all convictions broken down by crime type; this includes a specific category for fraud). (30342) How many cases of benefit fraud were identified in each of the last three years.The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.  (30343) Whilst the department does have some information, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Personal Independence Payment

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of disabled people who will lose their entitlement to the (a) standard rate of and (b) enhanced rate of personal independence payment as a result of changes to the assessment criteria regarding the use of aids and appliances for activities five and six.

Justin Tomlinson: It is not possible to forecast exact figures because it will depend on factors such as caseload, possible behavioural change, and the outcome of DLA reassessment outcomes. We estimate that in 2020/21 there will be a total of 640,000 people who will be in some way affected by these changes. However, a significant number will continue to qualify for an award, and for many the effects will be notional because they are not yet receiving the benefit. Claimants affected may also remain eligible for other forms of Government support. This includes, but is not limited to, the mobility component of PIP, ESA, local welfare provision, support through the NHS, adult social care and the Disabled Facilities Grant.

Department for Work and Pensions: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Changing Places toilets are provided at his Department's offices in the North West of England.

Justin Tomlinson: All of the disabled toilets that the Department has in its offices are standard. There are no changing places toilets in any of our offices in the North West of England.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Meat: Imports

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons public bodies are permitted to import meat and meat products which due to poor welfare standards would be illegal to produce in the UK.

George Eustice: Government Buying Standards for food and catering services are mandatory for central government and encouraged in the wider public sector. The standards require that all food served must have been produced in compliance with UK legal standards for animal welfare. To protect the supply of food to central government and other public bodies, including prisons and the military, the only exception is for the procurement of pig and poultry meat. This means that in the event that UK market conditions impose a significant increase in costs that cannot be compensated for by savings elsewhere, pig and poultry meat must as a minimum meet EU standards and the reasons for not applying UK welfare standards must be recorded and signed off by a senior official in the organisation concerned.

Food: Procurement

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on implementation of the recommendations of the Bonfield report on public procurement of food; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government is committed to providing food produced to British standards or their equivalent in all its canteens, restaurants and cafeterias by the end of this Parliament. Defra is working closely with other Departments and businesses to implement Dr Peter Bonfield’s Plan for Public Procurement of Food, including a balanced scorecard. The Ministry of Justice recently launched a tender for supplying food to prisons, worth £500m, which requires bids to use the balanced scorecard. Their current supplier has agreed that the 30 million portions of UHT milk served in prisons each year will be sourced from UK producers. All new Central Government food and catering contracts will use the balanced scorecard approach.

Seas and Oceans: Plastics

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the adequacy of filtration systems to remove microplastics prior to entry into the sea.

George Eustice: A recent Defra-funded project, undertaken by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), investigated the presence and quantity of microplastic particles entering the marine environment after sewage treatment. The report concluded microplastics are released into surface waters through sewage treatment directly, or via sewage sludge from agricultural composting. It also concluded that more work is needed to determine the effectiveness of different types of sewage treatment at removing microplastics from sewage. The final report is currently undergoing peer review.

Cosmetics: Plastics

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department made of the adequacy of voluntary agreements to phase out microplastics from toiletries.

George Eustice: Defra has been working with other countries in the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to secure the voluntary phasing-out of microplastics in personal care and cosmetic products. This campaign is making progress. Following discussions at the end of 2015, the trade association Cosmetics Europe announced a recommendation to its members and the rest of the industry that the use of plastic microbeads should be discontinued. The British Plastics Federation has also said that microbeads should not be used in cosmetics. The UK Government is supporting initiatives, such as Beat the Microbead, which help consumers to identify products that do or do not contain microbeads, so that they can make informed choices about the products they buy. Many cosmetics brands have now publically committed to removing microbeads from their products.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the speed with which payments are made to small farmers under the Basic Payment Scheme.

George Eustice: As of 10 March the Rural Payments Agency has paid in the region of 83% of all eligible claims received. Of these some 81% of small farm businesses had received their payments. The Rural Payments agency is working to pay the remainder of claims as promptly as possible with between 800 and 1,000 staff working on processing claims.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to improve the protection of areas of outstanding natural beauty in marine areas.

George Eustice: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty do not cover marine areas. However, this Government has made a commitment to complete a ‘Blue Belt’ of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around our coasts. These sites will also contribute to an ecologically-coherent network of MPAs in the North East Atlantic. Over 17% of UK waters and almost a third of English inshore waters are now within MPAs. This includes 50 Marine Conservation Zones created since 2013. We are continuing to work towards designating further MPAs to complete the ‘Blue Belt’.

Dogs: Imports

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions have occurred or proceedings been commenced as the result of the seizure of illegally imported puppies taken into the Dogs Trust's care via its pilot quarantine initiative since the start of that pilot.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been identified as illegally importing puppies under the Pet Travel Scheme during the Dogs Trust's pilot quarantine initiative.

George Eustice: Local Authorities are responsible for the prosecution of individuals illegally importing puppies into Great Britain. In addition Port of Dover Police can issue formal warnings for illegal landing of puppies including where animals have been concealed. It is for the local authority concerned to decide if it wishes to undertaken a prosecution in any of the cases of illegal importation identified during the pilot. The Dogs Trust pilot quarantine initiative began on 2 December 2015 and is expected to continue until the end of May 2016. As explained in my reply to the honourable Member for North Durham, Kevan Jones, on 11 March 2016, PQ UIN 30363, the Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion. This assessment will be made publicly available and will be based on information provided by all parties involved in the pilot. This will include a summary of all enforcement action that has been taken. The report may not, however, be able to comment on investigations that may be underway.

Food

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage consumers to buy local produce.

George Eustice: The Great British Food Campaign celebrates the best of the UK’s food and drink, focusing particularly on our unique Protected Food Name products such as Traditionally Farmed Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork and Fenland Celery. Through Great British Food we aim to encourage consumers to think more carefully about the provenance of the food that they eat and to consider choosing innovative British produce as part of a balanced healthy diet.

Food: Production

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) annual contribution to the economy of food production and (b) number of people employed in the food production industry.

George Eustice: The latest provisional data shows that in 2014 the whole food chain from farming to retail and catering was worth £108 billion to National Gross Value Added, and employed 3.8 million people. Within this, farming contributed £10.7 billion Gross Value Added and employed 440 thousand people, and food and drink manufacturing contributed £26.9 billion Gross Value Added and employed 410 thousand people. These statistics are derived from the Aggregate Agricultural Accounts by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Annual Business Survey and the Labour Force Survey by the Office for National Statistics.

Shipping: Pollution

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the economic, ecological and public health effects on the UK of aquatic invasive species introduced by shipping discharging ballast water.

George Eustice: Defra has commissioned or undertaken a number of assessments that inform our understanding of the impacts of aquatic invasive species. These include, but are not limited to: Risk assessments for non-native species to understand the risk of arrival, establishment, spread and impact of such species. A study in 2010, ‘Economic Cost of Invasive Non-native Species to the British Economy’, which looked at the costs associated with aquatic invasive species, though it did not separately identify the cost of those introduced in ballast water; Work in 2012, modelling the risk of introduction and spread of non-native species in the UK and Ireland. This project identified areas, such as ports, which present greatest risk for the introduction, establishment and spread of such species, through pathways including ballast water; and A study in 2013 identifying those invasive non-native species most likely to arrive, establish and pose a threat to native biodiversity in Great Britain within the next 10 years. Defra also supports a database, the Great Britain Non-native Species Information Portal. This provides information on more than 3,700 non-native species including where they are present and the likely means by which they have arrived in this country.

Dairy Farming

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on developing a futures market for dairy in the UK; and when she expects to implement that futures market.

George Eustice: Last November we embarked on a detailed analysis of the scope for better dairy price risk management, including dairy futures, in order to support stability and resilience in the dairy sector. The initial evidence base concluded that futures markets offered the best potential basis for progress and it was agreed to undertake further detailed work in this area. We are now exploring the level of appetite within the industry alongside some of the key barriers which have hampered the development of futures trading in the past. We expect to complete our analysis by the end of April. If this work leads to a genuine and practical prospect for progress, we will then move on to work with financial market and industry partners to deliver the best option for the UK dairy market.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Local Government

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of UK membership of the EU on each policy area and function of local authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 07 March 2016



None.

Local Government

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of UK withdrawal from the EU on each policy area and function of local authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 07 March 2016



None.

Compulsory Purchase

Tom Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to offer compulsory purchase payments at 150 per cent of market value.

Brandon Lewis: No. The Compensation Code is based on the principle of equivalence, which says that the owner of the land taken should be paid neither less nor more than his loss. Paying compensation at more than market value would make public development more expensive and some schemes would become unviable. Offering such payments would not necessarily speed up negotiations or remove the need for compulsory purchase.The Department issued guidance on the compulsory purchase process on the 29 October 2015 (web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compulsory-purchase-process-and-the-crichel-down-rules-guidance ) which encourages acquiring authorities to consider all of the costs involved in the compulsory purchase process when assessing the appropriate payments for purchase of land in advance of compulsory purchase.

Local Government: Procurement

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities are required to consider environmental factors when awarding contracts.

Mr Marcus Jones: The over-riding procurement policy requirement is that all public procurement must be based on value for money, defined as the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought. This includes taking environmental issues into consideration.The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires all public authorities, to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being in connection with public services contracts; and for connected purposes. In addition under the Duty of Best Value, local authorities should consider overall value, including environmental value when reviewing service provision.

Council Tax

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Questions 26101 and 29935, if he will publish the data referred to in the latter Answer as the basis for the statement that even if all authorities increase council tax by the maximum under the referendum principles, it will be lower in 2019-20 in real terms compared to 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones: The data underlying the statement is:a) the published DCLG council tax levels to 2015-16 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-levels-set-by-local-authorities-in-england-2015-to-2016 (table 9, and equivalent for earlier years) and b) the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of the Consumer Price Index at: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/download/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-supplementary-economy-tables-november-2015/ (table 1.7).

Public Lavatories: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Changing Places toilets are provided by each local authority in North West England.

James Wharton: There are 86 Changing Places toilets in the North West of England. The location of Changing Places toilets can be found using the Changing Places interactive toilet map, hosted on their website; http://www.changing-places.org/.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Security Guards

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much security guards in his Department are paid.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has one contract which provides security services for the office in Edinburgh and uses a framework contract for building services held by the Ministry of Justice for security services in London. The Scotland Office does not set the wages paid by the contractors to its workers; however, the hourly rates paid by both contractors are above the current national minimum wage and national living wage, effective from 1 April 2016.

HM Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits: Self-employed

Owen Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many self-employed people claimed (a) child and (b) working tax credits in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15.

Damian Hinds: The latest information for 2013-14 recipients can be obtained from the ‘Child and Working Tax Credits statistics: finalised annual awards – 2013 to 2014’ publication. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-finalised-annual-awards-2013-to-2014 The equivalent information for 2014-15 will not be available until May 2016.

Taxation: British Overseas Territories

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of UK policies on tax and overseas territories on the effectiveness of Government steps to tackle global poverty.

Mr David Gauke: The Government is committed to tackling global poverty and to a fair and transparent global tax system. Following the lead taken by the UK in its G8 Presidency, each of the UK’s Overseas Territories with a recognised financial centre has committed to automatic exchange of information with over 90 jurisdictions worldwide. The Territories have also joined the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters providing a legal gateway for exchange of information with a large number of countries, including developing countries which have joined the Convention. The Government wants all countries, including developing countries, to be able to take advantage of exchange of information, both on request and automatically. The Department for International Development (DFID) funds the Global Forum and World Bank to support developing countries in implementing exchange of information systems, and last year the Government announced a partnership with the Ghana revenue authority to pilot the new standard on automatic exchange of information. The UK has also been at the forefront of recent international efforts to align the taxation of profits with economic activity through the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This project, which involved tax officials from over 120 countries, represents the most comprehensive attempt to reform the international tax rules since they were first drafted in the 1920s. All countries will be able to benefit from these changes to the international tax system, but some will require additional support if they are to do so. International organisations are therefore producing practical toolkits to help developing countries implement BEPS standards and DFID is funding international organisations to assist developing countries in obtaining technical assistance on issues such as transfer pricing.

Taxation

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on making country-by-country tax reports public of the survey results published by Christian Aid in September 2015 on the attitudes of FTSE100 companies to that issue.

Mr David Gauke: The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated the international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting to tax authorities during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a template for this as part of the BEPS project. The UK was also the first to commit to implementing the OECD model with legislation in Finance Act 2015. We signed the OECD agreement to share the CbC reports with other tax authorities in January 2016 and issued our final CbC reporting regulations on 26 February 2016. The Government believes that there is scope for greater transparency by pressing the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. As the Chancellor has said, this is something that the UK will seek to promote internationally. The European Commission is preparing an impact assessment of public CbC reporting. We look forward to seeing the outcome of this analysis, which we expect to be published early next month, and will consider any proposal put forward by the Commission in due course.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy Supply: UK Membership of EU

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has commissioned research on the potential effect on the purchase of energy through the interconnectors in the event of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

Andrea Leadsom: At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. We currently expect our electricity interconnector capacity with the EU to double by the early 2020s with studies showing they could deliver benefits to British consumers of almost £12 billion over 25 years. As the White Paper that the Government recently published on the process for withdrawing from the European Union makes clear, a vote to leave the EU would lead to a prolonged period of uncertainty, including on the nature of our access to the EU's single energy market.

Electricity: Republic of Ireland

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to take forward talks on reaching an intergovernmental agreement with Ireland on expanding electricity interconnection capacity in response to the conclusions of the National Infrastructure Commission's report on Smart Power, published in March 2016.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is ambitious for the market to deliver an increase in electricity interconnection capacity where projects demonstrate value for money and provide benefits to consumers. We are primarily focused on facilitating developer-led delivery. Already one interconnection project to Ireland, Greenlink, has been approved by Ofgem in the first round of cap and floor applications. More projects, including to Ireland, can apply to Ofgem’s second cap and floor application window which opens this month.

Renewable Energy: Republic of Ireland

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Memorandum of Understanding on renewable energy trade agreed between the UK and Ireland in January 2013, what progress has been made on reaching an intergovernmental agreement with Ireland.

Andrea Leadsom: We recognise the benefits of cooperation mechanisms and of opening our renewable support schemes to foreign generation in principle. This is why we signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Ireland. Whilst we have yet to agree with Ireland on any particular project, we remain open to new proposals.

Coal Fired Power Stations

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support her Department plans to provide to communities that will be affected by closure of coal-fired power stations.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government will work with local partners to ensure support is available to help all those affected move quickly into new jobs, including through Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service. In Scotland, Jobcentre Plus will be an active partner in PACE (Partnership Action for Continued Employment), the Scottish Government’s redundancy support initiative.

Housing: Energy

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding the Government allocated to incentivising installation of (a) solar panels and (b) home insulation in each year since 2010.

Andrea Leadsom: Solar panels have primarily been incentivised to date through two schemes: the Renewables Obligation, which typically supports larger installations, and the Feed-in Tariff, which supports smaller projects. The value of the Renewables Obligation for solar PV in each year since 2010 is show in the following table: Financial YearRenewables Obligation PV scheme value, £m (nominal)2010-11£0.22011-12£0.12012-13£0.92013-14£34.92014-15£133.9  A proxy for the total spend each year on all eligible technologies is given by the size of the Levelisation fund. The size of this fund and solar PV’s share of total FiTs capacity is shown in the following table:  Financial YearLevelisation fund (nominal)% solar PV share of total FIT capacity2010-11£14,435,32569.72011-12£150,756,06490.02012-13£506,328,13986.42013-14£690,991,28384.32014-15£865,553,97581.6 It should be noted that the percentage share of capacity does not necessarily equate to the percentage share of total spend under the scheme. No payments have yet been made to solar PV generating stations under Contracts for Difference (CfDs), although three solar PV projects signed CfDs following the first allocation round.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: EU Action

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations she made on raising the EU's 2030 greenhouse gas target at the Environment Council on 4 March 2016.

Andrea Leadsom: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State represented the UK for the climate change discussion at the Environment Council on 4th March and spoke in support of the Presidency’s assessment of the Paris Agreement. In his intervention, my noble Friend noted that the Paris Agreement is a historic step forward but that the current level of commitments does not put us on a pathway to meet the well below 2°C global goal. He said it was vital we push for another moment in 2020 to raise collective mitigation ambition and that the EU continue its climate leadership role and maintain the momentum created in Paris. He therefore called for the EU and its Member States to be prepared for the first ambition cycle in 2018-2020.

Coal Fired Power Stations: Carbon Emissions

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ask her German counterpart to supply the Government with emissions data from new ultra super-critical coal-fired power stations in that country; and if she will place that data in the Library.

Andrea Leadsom: I have no plans to ask for emissions data from new ultra super-critical coal-fired power stations in Germany.

Electricity: Weather

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to prevent electricity shortages in the winter of 2016-17.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK will not face a power shortage in winter 2016/17. National Grid has the right tools they need to manage the system and will ensure that they continue to do so. National Grid has already procured 3.6GW of reserve capacity for next winter and, in January, the Capacity Market Transitional Arrangements auction bought 800MW of demand side response capacity for winter 16/17 which will also help secure the system. In addition, National Grid has the option to procure further demand side balancing reserve for 2016/17.

Climate Change: EU Action

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she was consulted about the decision to remove the discussion on raising EU climate ambition in light of the Paris Agreement from the European Council agenda for 17 to 18 March 2016.

Andrea Leadsom: The agenda for the European Council is set by the President of the European Council.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: EU Action

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what submission she has made to the Prime Minister in preparation for the European Council on 17-18 March on the proposal to raise the EU's greenhouse gas target for 2030 to take account of the Paris Agreement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department works very closely with the Cabinet Office to prepare for European Council discussions on climate and energy. The assessments of the Paris Agreement conducted by the European Commission and the Presidency of the Council of the EU following the December European Council do not propose an increase in the EU’s greenhouse gas target for 2030 at this stage.

Energy Supply

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what infrastructure the UK has in place to ensure that households and businesses do not face energy shortages in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years.

Andrea Leadsom: In addition to the generation capacity within the market, National Grid has already procured 3.6GW of reserve capacity for next winter and, in January, the Capacity Market Transitional Arrangements auction bought 800MW of demand side response capacity for winter 16/17 which will also help secure the system. In the medium to long term, the capacity market will ensure we have the electricity infrastructure to prevent energy shortages. On 1 March 2016, DECC announced that we are consulting on changes to the CM, to buy more capacity and earlier; tighten the sanctions on those who fail to deliver on their obligations; and bolster energy security in the short–term, by holding a new auction bringing forward the first Capacity Market delivery year to 2017/18. We are confident that the Capacity Market is the right mechanism to bring forward the necessary new capacity as older, less efficient plants close. Furthermore, Hinkley will be the first new nuclear power plant built in the UK for 20 years. Once up and running in 2025, it will provide 3.2 Giga Watts of secure, base-load and low carbon electricity for around 60 years, meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs. GB also has 4GW of electricity interconnection infrastructure across 4 interconnectors to France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Around 7GW of projects are currently proceeding through Ofgem’s cap and floor regulatory regime, with a further 1GW progressing under the “merchant-exempt” route, more than doubling our capacity in the early 2020s. Ofgem will open a further cap and floor application window at the end of March. As for gas, GB has a total gas infrastructure deliverability of around 700 mcm/d compared to average winter demand of 290 mcm/d (record demand 465 mcm/d, Dec 2010) giving a surplus capacity against average winter demand of 410 mcm/d.

Energy Supply

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK's energy capacity can keep up with demand.

Andrea Leadsom: The Capacity Market secures electricity capacity, mainly power plant and Demand Side Response, through competitive auctions. Targets for the auction are set to ensure there is enough capacity available to meet peak electricity demand. On 1 March 2016, DECC announced that we are consulting on changes to the CM, to buy more capacity and earlier; tighten the sanctions on those who fail to deliver on their obligations; and bolster energy security in the short–term, by holding a new auction bringing forward the first Capacity Market delivery year to 2017/18. We are confident that the Capacity Market is the right mechanism to bring forward the necessary new capacity as older, less efficient plants close.

Energy: Meters

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department's governance arrangements are for the smart meter rollout.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her Department's project management arrangements are for the smart meter rollout.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department is accountable for the Smart Metering Programme business case, and for ensuring that consumers realise the benefits of smart metering. Energy suppliers in turn are responsible for planning and delivering the roll-out, working within the regulatory framework established by the Government. Following the award of the Smart Meters Communications Licence to the Data and Communications Company (DCC) in September 2013, the Department developed with industry and consumer organisations a Transition Governance Model to support its decision making and to drive and coordinate progress across energy suppliers, network operators, the DCC and Smart Energy GB. This model includes a regular Ministerial governance meeting with board-level energy industry and consumer group counterparts:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/363674/transition_governance_overview.pdf. This is reviewed regularly and is currently moving its focus to oversight of the main installation phase of the programme. Once energy suppliers are rolling out smart meters at scale through the Data and Communications Company, the Department intends to step back leaving industry to manage the overall system through enduring governance arrangements set out in the Smart Energy Code and subject to regulatory oversight from Ofgem.

Energy Supply

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 29325, how much of the 0.6GW diesel generating capacity is (a) privately owned and (b) owned by the Government; and which companies are involved in providing that capacity.

Andrea Leadsom: I am not aware of any HM Government Departments or agencies which provide Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) services to National Grid. Short Term Operating Reserve is procured by National Grid, and is subject to commercial confidentiality. DECC does not hold figures on contracts entered into by other Government departments or agencies.

Energy: Meters

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the smart meter roll out public awareness campaign led by Smart Energy GB.

Andrea Leadsom: Smart Energy GB’s performance is measured against a Performance Management Framework, produced and maintained by energy suppliers under paragraph 45.28 of their licence conditions. The Department works closely with Smart Energy GB and suppliers to support delivery of the benefits of smart metering to all consumers in Great Britain.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of his Department's (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

Matthew Hancock: At 29 February 2016, the proportion of Senior Civil Servants in my Department that were based in London was 99%. The proportion of core policy civil servants in my Department based in London is not available because this information is not derivable from Cabinet Office systems.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Royston Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to increase voter registration within Commonwealth communities for the forthcoming EU referendum.

John Penrose: The Government is committed to ensuring as many eligible people as possible are registered to vote. The introduction of online voter registration has made it easier and quicker to register to vote than ever before. It can take less than three minutes and you can register throughout the year from wherever you are in the world, within the commonwealth and beyond.

Government Departments: Procurement

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing requirements on responsible tax behaviour into government procurement policy.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 15 March 2016



The Government requires good tax compliance behaviour in procurement. Procurement Policy Note 03/14 sets out the scope, background and detailed guidance for the policy of using the procurement process to promote tax compliance:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0314-promoting-tax-compliance

Cabinet Office: Sick Leave

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 15 March 2016



The table below sets out information about sickness absence taken by officials in my Department relating to stress for each the last five years for which figures are currently available.YearNo.of Staff% of Staff% of Total Working Days Lost2014351.3%31%2013371.5%38%2012231.0%23%2011311.5%34%2010272.0%26%2009282.1%20%The Cabinet Office is committed to reducing work related absence due to stress and has a number of services in place to support members of staff suffering from occupational stress. Our Workwell community is staffed by volunteers who aim to make Cabinet Office a happy and healthy workplace through a number of interventions including a listening service for staff. We also offer a 24 hour counselling support helpline through our Employee Assistance Programme provider and advocate early referral to our occupational health service where appropriate, for advice on a number of conditions including stress and mental health.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many nationals of other EU member states who were (a) originally born outside of the EU and (b) originally born outside of the EU and became a citizen of that EU member state entered the UK in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - EU Members born outside EU
(PDF Document, 72.17 KB)

Immigration: EU Nationals

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people from other EU member states have (a) entered the UK in each year since 2006 and (b) are living in the UK; and under what heading those people are classified in the provisions of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - EU Members entering UK
(PDF Document, 191.92 KB)

Zero Hours Contracts: Lancashire

Julie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been employed on zero-hours contracts in (a) Burnley and (b) Lancashire in each of the last six years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Zero Hour Contracts
(PDF Document, 267.42 KB)

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Overseas Aid

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Question 28855, how much of that spending in each of the last three years is subject to the provisions of the International Development Act 2002.

Mr Edward Vaizey: We have not identified any Official Development Assistance monies spent to date by the Department under the powers provided by the International Development Act 2002.

Arts: Mental Health

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential of the arts to contribute to mental well-being for people with mental illness; and what programmes his Department has in place to help deliver that contribution.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Research commissioned by DCMS has found positive associations between participation in arts and health, including mental health. The research can be found here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416279/A_review_of_the_Social_Impacts_of_Culture_and_Sport.pdfArts Council England funds a number of organisations on behalf of the Government that support people with mental health issues.

Arts: East Midlands

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department has provided for (a) museums and (b) heritage in (i) the East Midlands and (ii) Nottinghamshire in each of the last three years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: This Government continues to support heritage and arts projects across the East Midlands and Nottinghamshire through its arms length bodies, including Nottingham’s historic Lace Markets' Galleries of Justice Museum, which was awarded £1m from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to carry out major redevelopment. Since 2012, the HLF has given more than £80m to the East Midlands and £6.7m to Nottinghamshire. Figures for 2015/16 are not yet available. Through Arts Council England, nearly £7m has been provided for museums in the East Midlands and over £1.6m for museums in Nottinghamshire, including the City of Nottingham, in the last three years. Over the same period, Historic England has given over £3m to the East Midlands, and more than £375,000 to Nottinghamshire. Party of this funding supported a project, in partnership with Bassetlaw District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, to repair and reinstate historic features in the Tuxford Conservation Area - which led to it being remove from the 'at risk' register.

Cultural Heritage: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received from Nottinghamshire County Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund on the proposed closure of the DH Lawrence Heritage Centre in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.

David Evennett: To date, the department has not received any representations from Nottinghamshire County Council or the Heritage Lottery Fund on this matter. An options study into the future of the Centre, funded by Arts Council England, is currently being carried out. The Heritage Lottery Fund will continue discussions with the owners, Broxtowe Borough Council, and Arts Council England once this study is complete.

Department of Health

Care Quality Commission

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of the recruitment process for the post of National Guardian in the Care Quality Commission.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC has provided the following information.The cost of recruiting for the post of National Guardian was £61,300 (including VAT) and the costs of recruitment were borne equally across NHS Trust Development Authority, NHS England, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts (Monitor) and the CQC. This figure includes the cost of executive search, advertising and minimal individual expenses.The recruitment services for the role were provided by Russell Reynolds Associates. Due to the short duration in post of the person appointed the CQC does not envisage a fee being levied to support the recruitment of a replacement.

Breast Cancer

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in the last three months.

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve his Department's collection of data for secondary breast cancer.

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure hospital trusts routinely collect and submit data on secondary breast cancer.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer.At present pilot work in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service but the uptake has been slow and the data is not complete. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.Data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available.

Oesophageal Cancer: Health Education

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to run a second Be Clear on Cancer campaign on oesophago-gastric cancers.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department's evaluation of the Be Clear on Cancer campaign for oesophago-gastric cancers will be published.

Jane Ellison: There will be two national ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaigns in 2016-17. The decision on which cancers these campaigns will focus on will be informed by a steering group, whose members include primary and secondary care clinicians, analysts and key voluntary sector organisations. A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to run, including all available evaluation data. A second national oesophago-gastric campaign will be considered alongside the other existing campaigns. PHE is analysing cancer waiting times data and campaign tracking research and it is expected that the first national oesophago-gastric cancer (1st wave) interim report will be published this summer.

Breast Cancer

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that secondary breast cancer patients have access to a clinical nurse specialist as part of their care.

Jane Ellison: The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July last year, recognising the importance of access to clinical nurse specialists or other key workers for patients with all types of cancer.NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to implement the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE (Chief Executive of the Royal Marsden) as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, which met for the first time on 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.

General Practitioners: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that seven-day GP services are provided in Southampton.

Alistair Burt: The Southampton City Primary Care Hub scheme supports 269,875 patients from 33 general practitioner (GP) practices, providing them with access to improved services across Southampton via six hubs. The first of these six hubs opened in June 2015 and offers GP and Healthcare Assistant appointments from 6:30pm-8:00pm in the evenings and 8:00am-8:00pm at the weekends. Two further hubs went live in September and a further two early January 2016 as part of a phased rollout.Information technology offerings from the hubs will feature e-Consultations and e-Feedback for patients which will be phased across the hubs in 2016. Since September 2015, the scheme has also been offering patients a physiotherapy service delivering primary care physio in the evenings and at weekends, alongside a pathway redesign to support GPs as first contact for patients with musculoskeletal problems.

St Thomas' Hospital

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the effect on cost and on bed capacity of delayed hospital discharge at the Lane Fox Respiratory Unit at St Thomas' Hospital, London; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The information is not collected centrally and no estimate has been made.

Care Homes

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that (a) training and (b) emotional support is given to carers who work in residential homes.

Alistair Burt: Improving the capability of the care workforce through continued skills development is a vital investment in the future. This applies to the workforce as a whole but is particularly important for those working in residential homes.Ultimately, it is the responsibility of employers to ensure their staff are suitably trained and appropriately supported to undertake the roles for which they are employed.The Department is working closely with our delivery partners to support employers in improving the level of skills of the workforce and is spending significant levels of funding to support this work.The introduction of the Care Certificate is delivering specific standards for the training of new care workers.

Mental Health Services: Children

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of investment in psychiatric services for children.

Alistair Burt: The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce was established in September 2014 to consider ways to improve how children and young people’s mental health (CYPMH) services are organised, commissioned and provided. Evidence presented to and discussions in the Taskforce underlined the complexity and severity of the current set of challenges facing child and adolescent mental health services, including investment and funding arrangements. The work of the Taskforce resulted in the publication of the Government report, Future in Mind, which established a clear and powerful consensus about system-wide transformation to improve CYPMH.This Government is committed to delivering this. An additional £1.4 billion has been made available over the course of this parliament to support this transformation programme, which includes investment in a range of mental health services for children and young people services, including psychiatric services. This includes £150 million to improve eating disorders and £75 million for perinatal mental health services.Most of the additional funding is going direct to local areas to invest in transforming their services, but we need to balance this with investment nationally for workforce and system development, which sets the foundations for transformation. As this work progresses at national level, the amount going to local areas to support direct service delivery will gradually increase over the course of the five years.Local Transformation Plans developed by clinical commissioning groups, covering all local areas, have been successfully assured by NHS England and funding was released in December 2015 to implement the Plans. These plans must cover the whole spectrum of CYPMH needs.

Alcoholic Drinks: Southampton Itchen

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the proportion of people in Southampton, Itchen constituency who consume more than the recommended daily alcohol intake.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not held centrally.Public Health England, Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) provides local data alongside national comparisons to support local health improvements. The latest LAPE data can be found at:http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to avert further industrial action by junior doctors since the announcement of his intention to impose a new contract.

Ben Gummer: On 11 February 2016 the Secretary of State made an oral statement, Official Report, columns 1763-1765 in which he announced that he would proceed with the introduction of a new national contract for doctors in training, following advice that there was no realistic prospect of reaching agreement with the British Medical Association.

Streptococcus

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timescale is for the UK National Screening Committee Group B Streptococcus review; when the public consultation on that review will open and close; and when he expects the committee to make a decision on the outcomes of that review.

Ben Gummer: In December 2015 the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) commissioned an update review into antenatal screening for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) as per its published process. A public consultation is expected to be held in late 2016 for a three-month period; the UK NSC will then review the recommendation for GBS at the successive meeting.

Health Services

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what weekend visits he has made to front-line health service providers in the current Parliament.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has undertaken the following weekend visit to a front-line health service provider. 26 December 2015 Milford Hospital, Surrey As Secretary of State with overall responsibility for the National Health Service, he routinely attends to Departmental business at weekends.

Antidepressants: Young People

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he is having with (a) his counterparts in the devolved administrations and (b) representatives of GPs on reducing the number of anti-depressants prescribed to young people.

Alistair Burt: There have not been any discussions between my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his counterparts in the devolved administrations or with representatives of general practitioners to specifically discuss reducing the number of anti-depressants prescribed to young people.

Anorexia: Internet

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of pro-anorexia websites on people with anorexia nervosa.

Alistair Burt: No specific assessment has been made by the Department of the effect of these websites on people with anorexia nervosa.The Government has worked with a range of bodies, including the Advertising Association and the National Citizen Service, to develop materials that support good practice and encourage young people to become more informed and resilient consumers of media content.Working with industry, Government has made progress in delivering on the commitment to protect children from harmful material online - including prompting parents to switch on parental internet controls.

Mental Health Services: Hearing Impairment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to signpost commissioners to other appropriate services since the decision was taken not to prescribe specialist psychological services for deaf people as a specialised service; and what (a) number and (b) proportion of clinical commissioning groups commission specialist psychological services for deaf people.

Alistair Burt: The 2015 Adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Workforce Census report will be published by NHS England in early summer. Included within the report will be the number of services that currently provide therapy in British Sign Language (BSL) and how many therapists deliver these therapies nationally. People who wish to be referred to IAPT services that require BSL services may seek advice from their general practitioner. Information about local NHS services, including IAPT, is also available on the NHS Choices website.Information is not collected centrally on the number or proportion of clinical commissioning groups which commission specialist psychological services for deaf people.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the proportion of people aged (a) under and (b) over 18 who have a diagnosable mental health condition who access medical support.

Alistair Burt: No estimate has been made of the proportion of people under and over 18 years of age with a diagnosable mental health condition who access medical support as information held centrally is not sufficient for such an estimate to be made.

Prescriptions: Learning Disability

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2016 to Question 30123, on prescriptions: learning disability, what he plans to include in the programme of work to reduce inappropriate prescribing; and what the timetable for that programme is.

Alistair Burt: I am planning to meet NHS England officials in April to discuss action to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of medication for people with a learning disability. The work programme and timeframe have not yet been agreed.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23475, on what date in March 2016 he expects the first report on progress against the referral to treatment element of the Early Intervention Psychosis access standard to be published.

Alistair Burt: The Health and Social Care Information Centre Monthly Statistics - Provisional January 2016, which includes experimental statistics relating to the Early Intervention for Psychosis access standard, is scheduled to be published on 31 March 2016.

Mental Illness: Carers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 29233, how much of the annual allocation of £130 million for carers' breaks has been spent so far in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt: Every local area is required to set out in their Better Care Fund the plan for the level of resource that will be dedicated to carer-specific support, including how it has met its minimum contributions for funding towards carers’ breaks. Delivery against these plans is a matter for local determination.

Junior Doctors

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he last met junior doctors or their representatives.

Ben Gummer: The Secretary of State meets frontline staff, both medical and non-medical, on a regular basis.